La Sirena King Poseidon and Brux: Review

Before getting to this pairing I am going to give you my call for the Detroit Loins game today.  (I live in the Detroit area) I am not a homer.  I dog this team most of the time but, look at their record they have been easy to complain about.  Here is my call: Loins 35 - Rams 21 and since this is the first game of the season this is their season record: 9 -7.

The Ale

Brux

Domesticated Wild Ale

Brewed and bottled by: Sierra Nevada Brewing

In collaboration with Russian River Brewing

1pt 9.4oz bottle

8.3% abv

One problem with these big bottles is getting the sediment off the bottom.  Rolling the bottle before opening my work on some Germen low carbonated beer but, roll a bottle of Belgian or Belgian style ale and you will have a never ending flow of foam.

Pouring your first glass and trying to swirl the bottle during this pour usually does not get much of the sediment up. 

So, what I usually do is pour the first glass and then put a stopper in the bottle and then give the bottle a good swirl to get the sediment stirred up.  The second glass will give you the correct appearance, aroma’s, and flavors.  Leave a comment on what you recommend. 

Appearance: slightly misty amber body (I could call it burnt orange as well) with a nice big foamy head that disappeared before I started to think about the color.  Little to no lacing.

Aroma: The overall bouquet seemed nice when I first opened the bottle but when it was time to check the aroma out well it was fairly light, some spice, light lemon meat,

Flavors: earthy yeast, sour dough bread, summer white fruit – pear, nectarine, and a dirty caramel note.  The flavors all seem to become muddled together after about a half a glass.

Mouthfeel: sparkling water texture to the carbonation and watery edge that swirls through the palate but just like sparkling water the effervesce is short lived; it is like I can feel the alcohol evaporate on my tongue and this of course gives me a dry feel on the finish.

To the Point: it just seems to funky to me, the flavors just seem to muted; you have heard of a Dirty Martine well I’ll have to call this the Dirty Belgian Ale – why you ask – because the yeast and the caramel notes just seem dirty – but that is just me.  On BeerAdvocate they are giving this ale as 88 with 63 reviews.

Personally, I could skip this one all day long but, guess what - I have another bottle of this.  I guess I’ll just have to pair that one with a cigar.  I hate to waste a cigar on the ale though.  But, I am going to do this with my new favorite stick – La Sirena King Poseidon.   

The Cigar

La Sirena King Poseidon

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro

Binder: two Cuban seed Nicaraguan tobacco

Fillers: Nicaraguan Criollo 98 and Corojo 96

Size: 6x 60 

I’m going to make this a Series with this cigar. I have done two reviews already with this stick; one with a tawny port and the other an English Ale.   What should I name this series?  1) Around the World with King Poseidon or 2) The Adventures of King Poseidon.  I am going to go with … Around the World with King Poseidon.  I will select different beers, wines, and spirits from ‘Around the World’.  This is a no brainer. 

Flavor Profile: on the first inch the dark roasted coffee like notes dominate and then slowing some woody tones and spice start to develop.  By mid-point the earthy coffee style is full bodied with some good peppercorn spice and oak woody notes. 

The cigar burns well.  No corrections needed and it holds a tight salt and pepper gray ash.  Of course now that I mention that no corrections are needed this stick needed a couple of correction to the burn.  

I did have to do a little running around to find my Hound Dog Annie and that is when the cigar had some burning issues. 

The Pairing: first off, I have to admit that I did not want to waste a cigar on this ale but, then I thought a Ship has to pull into a Port that is not the most exciting Port around – just because it has too.  Well, let’s pull up dock side together with these two and just see what happens. 

With the second bottle ready to go the first thing I notice is the carbonation is lively.  Even though I used a stopper in the first bottle the effervesce just dwindles with each glass poured.  But, this effervesce is refreshing to the palate while smoking this full bodied smoke. 

The flavors of the ale still seem muted and hard to distinguish but, while smoking this cigar the ale seems a little tastier to me.  I think it is the earthiness of the yeast is mixing well with the earthy coffee profile of the cigar. 

What I learned from this matching, of the Brux and the La Sirena King Poseidon, is that this ale needs a good cigar to go with it to make it enjoyable.  I also learned that who cares what the flavor profile is of the ale is long as you enjoy it with what you are consuming at the moment.  And, I am enjoying this ale with this cigar which I did not really care for this ale by itself.  

Around the World with King Poseidon Series

Click here to read about this cigar paired with:

20 year old Port

Old Crafty Hen

Baco Noir Wine